At least 15 people were killed and dozens injured after a 42-year-old Army veteran plowed a truck into a crowd of New Year’s revelers in New Orleans’ Bourbon Street in what the FBI is investigating as an “act of terrorism.”
The FBI later identified the suspect — who was killed after engaging in a shootout with police officers — as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a U.S.-born citizen from Texas.
The bureau will lead the investigation and is working with law enforcement partners “to investigate this as an act of terrorism,” after an ISIS flag, weapons and a potential improvised explosive device (IED) were found inside the vehicle.
Meanwhile, the Sugar Bowl has been postponed until Thursday night.
During a Wednesday afternoon press conference, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said that the “Greater New Orleans Foundation has set up a fund to assist victims,” and the city was taking “every necessary step to put even more safety procedures in place, especially given the nature of the investigation.”
Here’s what we know about them so far:
Bech, a former Princeton football player, was taken to a New Orleans hospital with critical injuries and later died. He was reportedly kept on life support until his family could arrive.
The 28-year-old wide receiver was an All-Ivy League performer, having played high school football at St. Thomas More Catholic High School in Lafayette, Louisiana before earning a scholarship to Princeton University, according to CBS Sports.
Bech twice earned All-Ivy League honors as a return specialist and caught 53 passes for 825 yards and three touchdowns in his career. At his high school he also lettered in lacrosse and track, leading the lacrosse team to a state title and reaching three state semifinals.
Love you always brother ! You inspired me everyday now you get to be with me in every moment. I got this family T, don’t worry. This is for us ❤️ https://t.co/8sSFf564Mb
— Jack Bech (@jackbech7) January 1, 2025
After graduating from Princeton in 2021, he worked as a trader at Seaport Global, a New York brokerage firm.
His death was confirmed by St. Thomas More Catholic High School athletic director, Kim Broussard.
Bech’s younger brother, Jack Bech, began his own football career at LSU before transferring to TCU, and has declared for the 2025 NFL Draft in December. After news of his brother’s death was reported, the younger Bech wrote on X: “Love you always brother!
“You inspired me everyday now you get to be with me in every moment. I got this family T, don’t worry. This is for us.”
Nicole Perez, 27, has been confirmed as one of the New Orleans victims by Kimberly Usher-Fall, a family spokesperson and her employer, ABC News reported.
Perez was excited about a recent promotion to manager at one of Usher-Fall’s stores, said her boss, and she often brought her 4-year-old son, Melo, with her to work. She was helping him learn how to read.
“She was a great mother,” Usher-Fall told ABC. “She was a really exciting young lady.”
Perez was out with her friends New Year’s Eve when she was struck by Jabbar as he plowed through the crowd. She was rushed to University Hospital but succumbed to her injuries.
“She was so beautiful and full of life,” Usher-Fall wrote on a GoFundMe page for Perez. “Her son, Melo, is now without his momma, and we are without our friend and dedicated employee.”
She was seeking money to help with burial expenses and to “help her son with expenses he will need to transition into a new living situation.”
Hunter, a 37-year-old Baton Rouge father of two, was among the 10 victims who perished on Wednesday morning.
His family told The Times-Picayune he “had gotten off work and headed to Bourbon Street on a whim to ring in the new year with a cousin.”
“They decided to go out there because he came in from work and said, ‘Hey, the Sugar Bowl is tomorrow. It’s New Year’s Eve. Let’s go to the city,’” Hunter’s first cousin Shirell Jackson said. “Just something so simple. Hey cuz, had, wanna ride me to the city?”
Jackson said that Hunter and his cousin were both hit by the truck. While Hunter perished, the cousin was among the 35 injured who were taken to local hospitals.
According to his family, Hunter took pride in his 18-month-old son and 12-year-old son’s STEM academics, adding that he loved to work out. “He wanted to be in the gym with his homeboys and cousins,” Jackson said. “And he said, ‘I’m getting swole. I said, ‘Where? You are so little.’”
Dedeaux, 18, traveled to New Orleans from Gulfport with her cousin and friend to celebrate the New Year on Bourbon Street, her family told The Sun Herald.
“I just want to see my baby,” her mother Melissa Dedeaux, 40, grieved. “She was the sweetest person. She would give you anything, anything.”
Cheyenne, as she was known to family and friends, wasn’t supposed to be down in the city and snuck out, her mother said. Cheyenne’s friend Zion Parsons told the paper that their group was leaving Voodoo Chicken & Daquiris when “out of nowhere” he heard “commotion” and “banging.”
With gunfire ringing, Cheyenne ran into the street and into the path of the “barreling truck,” suffering critical injuries.
While the Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office has not officially confirmed her daughter’s death, Melissa said she knows Cheyenne had passed. “As a mother, when my niece and [Parsons] said they covered her with a sheet, I just knew that was it for my daughter,” she said.
